Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Real 2K Insider [01-11-10]

Following up my last massive update with ANOTHER massive update (perhaps I should make this a trend?) . My big project for this week was modifying Speed/Quickness ratings for all big men, and continuing to adjust each player's Shoot in Traffic and Shoot Off Dribble ratings, as well as their shot tendencies. It may not seem like a big update on paper, but it's not one that can be told by overall rating.

HIGHLIGHTS69.6% of all players in the NBA (292/419) have been edited!All edited players updated monthly!No missing players!Accurate player positions and rotations for all teams!Accurate contracts for all edited players!Updated player shooting tendencies, coach profiles, and accessories!Revised speed and quickness ratings for bigmen!

Michael Redd tore the ACL and MCL in his left knee Sunday night, ending his season prematurely for the third time in four years. His career could be over. Next season's 18 million dollar contract will be 80% covered by insurance if (when) Redd misses 41 straight games in 2010-11 with the injury - which will make him a very valuable trade asset a year from now.

If this is it for Redd, he finishes his career with a scoring average of 20.3. He was the lone All-NBA player of the 2000 draft (3rd team in 2004), and one of only three named to an all-star team (Redd, Kenyon Martin, and Jamaal Magloire, all in 2004 oddly enough. Clearly a weak year for the east). Seeing as how his career earnings will reach 100 million by the time his contract is up, it could have been much worse for the former 43rd pick.

In case you haven't heard, Gilbert Arenas was suspended indefinitely for being a jackass about his on-going "guns in the lockerroom drama". Arenas has probably played his last game this season, could be looking at jailtime, having his contract voided, losing tens of millions of dollars.... but you can actually listen to him crack jokes about it all on his twitter page. Who is his agent, and why isn't he doing his job?

Side note: Javaris Crittenton has probably played his last NBA game just for being involved in the whole fiasco. Enjoy Poland, Javaris.

Now for some good news. Nate Robinson returned to the Knick rotation after a month long exile, and scored 41 points in his return, carrying the team over the Hawks in Atlanta. The Knicks are 3-2 since his return, ending any ridiculous notion that he was a detriment to the team. He also rejected a trade to the Grizzlies (for Marcus Williams and a draft pick), reaffirming that he wants to be a Knick. Larry Hughes has since taken Nate's place on Mike D'Antoni's black list.

Similar to what Nate went through a month ago, T.J. Ford has found himself at the end of Jim O'Brien's bench in Indiana, having gone from starting PG to fourth-string. Dahntay Jones may have joined him as well, though that may have to do with Danny Granger's return from injury and Mike Dunleavy Jr. playing well. Earl Watson replaced Ford in the starting lineup, and rookie A.J. Price has looked good off the bench (although the Pacers have been dreadful since November). To say Ford is a candidate to be traded this season would be nothing short of an exaggeration.

Jose Calderon returned from injury, but has been coming off the bench in Toronto. The Raptors have found new life under Jarrett Jack, and are now above .500 pushing for the 5th/6th seed as many thought they would.

Vince Carter may be demoted to the bench, as the Magic haven't quite clicked offensively. There have been many games where Dwight Howard struggles to take 10 shots, and bringing VC off the bench may help in that regard. Carter has also struggled mightily over the last four games playing through an injury, and is currently day-to-day.

Rafer Alston was bought out by the Nets, and signed with his former team, the Miami Heat. He immediately replaced Carlos Arroyo in the starting lineup and relegated him to 3rd string PG just days after Arroyo had his contract guaranteed for the season.

The Nets also traded Eduardo Najera was traded to Dallas (where he is a fan favorite) in exchange for Kris Humphries and the unwanted Shawne Williams. The Nets then waived Shawne and their own Sean Williams, and both may be done in the league thanks to their bad attitudes.

Hilton Armstrong was traded to the Kings (for a second round pick) in a move that will save the Hornets a little under five million dollars, and brings them closer to the luxury tax threshold. Look for them to unload Ike Diogu, James Posey, or Julian Wright at the trade deadline in another cost cutting move that brings them under the tax.

Lester Hudson was waived by the Celtics, and claimed off waivers by the Grizzlies. Why? I have no idea. He's their 4th string PG (going from a 3rd string situation in Boston) and the only thing I can muster is perhaps the Grizz anticipate trading Marcus Williams (or another guard) soon.

Mikki Moore was waived by the Warriors so they could guarantee Chris Hunter's contract for the season (Moore is out until at least March with an injury). Cartier Martin is the new injury replacement operating on a 10-day contract. Elsewhere, Othello Hunter was waived by Atlanta, Pops Mensah-Bonsu was waived by Toronto, Mike Harris was waived by Houston, Coby Karl was waived by Cleveland, and Shavlik Randolph was waived and then re-signed to a 10-day contract by Portland. Roko Ukic asked for his contract to be terminated so he could return to Europe. Sundiata Gaines was signed by Utah after they waited as long as they were legally able to before adding a 13th player. Has there ever been a penny-pinching season like this one?

Brevin Knight is a Bobcats broadcaster and essentially retired. Jerry Stackhouse recently worked out for a Chinese team, and if can't get work there, he might as well be considered retired too. He's been making a weekly appearance on some radio show, and with talented D-Leaguers like Mario West, Morris Almond, Mike Harris, etc available on 10-day contracts, there is no need for teams to offer guaranteed money to has-beens like Antonio Daniels,Darius Miles, or Jake Voskuhl (i.e. the rest of the free agent pool that didn't go to Europe/Asia).

While there are many players I edited this week, only three stand out to me as "big movers".

David Lee has played at an all-star level and is proving all of his skeptics wrong by adding a legit mid-range jumper out to about 20 feet. He is averaging 19 points per game on 58% shooting, grabbing 11 boards per game, and is even dishing 3 assists per game at the center position, while only committing 2 turnovers per game. He is playing with a level of intelligence that I have never seen from say, Amare Stoudemire. If he were blessed with freakish size and athleticism of Dwight Howard, Lee would easily be the top center in the league. Instead, he is merely an all-star, and the main reason the Knicks have recovered from their 1-9 start (they are 14-13 since). He averaged 20-12-3 (62% shooting) in December, and is at 20-11-4 (56% shooting) in January.

The other Knick I wanted to talk about was Jonathan Bender, who is really back from the dead. Bender is not a garbage time player, but a key member of the rotation that scored a season high 16 points in 20 minutes tonight, while also recording a 4 block game (18 mins) against the Bobcats last week. The last time Bender saw meaningful minutes was 7 years ago, which makes his story truly inspiring.

Ty Lawson rounds out my list after performing very well in the absence of Chauncey Billups. Lawson gave us a glimpse of the future by averaging 16 points (56% shooting) and 6 assists in 7 starts. Perhaps a move to SG is in the cards for Mr. Billups down the line.

I'm kind of surprised to not see an update for Derrick Rose. If you were really just doing a lot of speed/quickness stuff then I understand, but for the month or so, Rose has been going to town on teams, and he was the one who sparked the 4 game winning streak for Chicago, capping it off with a win over the Orlando Magic.Last night, his mid-range J was falling like I've never seen it fall before. It almost looked like he was shooting the ball differently (it seemed to have a higher arc as opposed to his usual line drive shots)

Sorry but stats are mis leading and common sense ussually solves that for ratings. Garnett has a high % because he is ussually wide open because most bigs in the NBA can't step out and cover players like Garnett or Bosh for example.

Like Garnett can shoot better, then Kobe, Roy, Nash, Dirk. Garnett has a nice mid range shot for a big man but yor over doing it to a extreme.

Actually, Garnett's mid range game was been celebrated for over a decade. He's a great mid range shooter and it's that one part of his game that made him so unstoppable before he came to Boston.

Rashidi, think you can get to the rest of the Raptors? Or atleast reevaluate Bargnani (his rebounding and basketball IQ this season, last night especially, is something from him no one ever imagined from him) and Jack (who's developed into a guy that could start just about anywhere)?

Another factor you're not considering is KG's SOD and SIT ratings. As I said, I revamped them for many players as a bunch were very inaccurate (KG's included). You should see what I've done with them and compare that to the Kobe's, Roy's etc.